hajim urcs
Computer Science @ Rochester

CSC242: Intro to Artificial Intelligence
Spring 2012

[Shortcuts: Syllabus | ULW ]

Introduces fundamental principles of artificial intelligence, including heuristic search, automated reasoning, handling uncertainty, and machine learning. Presents applications of AI techniques to real-world problems such as understanding the web, computer games, biomedical research, and assistive systems. This course is a prerequisite for advanced AI courses.

Class

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2:00pm - 3:15pm, CSB601

Instructor

George Ferguson <ferguson at cs dot rochester dot edu>

Teaching Assistants

Walter Lasecki <wlasecki at cs dot rochester dot edu>

Julian Herwitz <julian dot herwitz at rochester dot edu>

Donato Borrello <donato dot borrello at rochester dot edu>

Textbook

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, 3rd ed., by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-604259-7. This book and previous editions are on reserve in Carlson Library.

Syllabus

The course will cover most of the material in most of Chapters 1 through 21 of AIMA, as well as additional material on AI topics and applications. Evaluation will include regular short written homework assignments, several larger projects involving both writing and programming, a student poster session, a midterm, and a final exam.

Detailed syllabus (subject to change)

Upper Level Writing

Students may elect to use this course to fulfill their Upper Level Writing requirement. Please see this information about ULW in CSC242 for more details.

Evaluation

Grade in the course will be calculated as follows:

So the grade is about half developing and describing AI programs, and about half formal exams, with 10% for our almost-end-of-year poster session.

Your letter grade will follow the University of Rochester Grading Scheme. The following table is an estimate of how the numeric grades will map onto the letter grades:

LetterMeaningNumber
AExcellent≥90%
BAbove Average≥75%
CMinimum Satisfactory Grade≥60%
DMinimum Passing Grade≥50%
EFail<50%

Note that the University scheme puts average somewhere between C and B. This mapping from numbers to letters is subject to change, but you get the idea: Getting an A requires truly excellent work. Even a B is above average. Mind you, as in Lake Wobegon, I'm sure all CSC242 students are above average.

FYI: This information was presented in the first lecture, with a slight adjustment to accommodate quizzes.

Last update: Wednesday, 28-Mar-2012 11:36:44 EDT